“Waking up to no current had us a little worried,” posted American Angler December 11, “but for whatever reason the fish didn’t seem to mind and like clockwork they showed up in full force once again. The early morning pandemonium kicked off the day with a little nicer grade thrown in the mix. Though it sounds sexy, we were faced with extremely tough fishing condition; lines were going straight down making it very difficult to get a bait away from the boat.

“We had a nice pick throughout the afternoon, which made for another beautiful day and with one more morning left, we hope to finish strong before heading up the line. Today’s cow list is as follows: David Han-223, BJ Beck-217, Ivan Schwalm-203, Ken Cowart-201 pounds.”

One December 12 the office posted:

"The guys checked in to let us know that their last morning of fishing was a success. Captain Ray reported a nice catch of 130 to 180-pounders and now they are Northbound. They’ll be home Wednesday morning.”

Seas Up

Weather's up,” noted Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys December 11. “Good afternoon from the Indy. We have enjoyed seven days of really good fishing, some days were off the charts good along with good weather down there. The ride home has been good for the most part till last night, as we are paying the piper at the moment; windy to say the least. Safety first, and I think we will be tied up in San Diego around 0630 if all goes right for us.”

On December 13 the boat posted:

“The Indy returned with a bounty of giant yellowfin tuna and a few wahoo. We were greeted with outstanding fishing this trip and our group took full advantage of it. A huge thanks to Roger Eckhardt and Sav On for everything. On that same note, an even bigger thanks to everyone who made the trip this year such a big success. Jackpot winners are:

“We made it to the grounds around 0400 and went right to work after hitting a nice spot of fish. Dale Lethcoe landed the first and second cows of the trip during the morning bite, both on Jigs! We managed a couple handfuls of fish out of the morning deal, then we began what we call the ‘Dragathon,’ as the anchor was just having a very hard time staying put in the windy, choppy weather. We were able to scratch out a day of fishing anyhow with some mid-grade fish and some Wahoo for the efforts. Just after sunset Larry Brown decked our 3rd cow of the day, also on a Salas PL68. The wind is forecast to blow again tomorrow, so we will fish accordingly. Catching some bait tonight.”

Communications Pain

“It has been a real pain getting reports out the last three days,” said the note from Red Rooster III December 12. “We finished the trip off with a great day and picked off four fish over 200 pounds. We had a really nice grade of fish the last four days of the trip. We had a tough start but a great finish.”

At the dock December 13, the 16-day Moffat trip tallied 187 yellowfin tuna and eight wahoo while fishing at Hurricane Bank and Clarion Island.

1st place jackpot: Charlie Tanaka of San Francisco, 233-pound yellowfin

2nd: Patrick Dirindin of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 232-pound yellowfin

3rd: Ben Kita of LA, 217-pound yellowfin tuna

Trolling jackpot: Chuck Case of Comtche, CA, 33-pound wahoo.

Cloudy With Cows

“The first two fish of the day were cows,” reported Royal Polaris December 12, “the very last fish of the day was a cow, and in between were a good number of quality fish ranging from 80 to 180 with most in the 150 to 180 slot. Here’s how it all went down: The morning fishing started…when Stan Kanow hooked up and it would be quite a while later before his fish was landed and weighed to the tune of 259 pounds, shattering his previous personal best. Brad Hal also had an extended battle ending in success and his fish would beat Stan’s by less than a pound at 260.5, which is not only his personal best, but an exact tie with Bob for biggest fish on the trip so far.

“A couple more smaller fish were caught in the morning and thus began another very slow pick day with little or no current and hard fishing conditions. About the time we were all ready to pack it in, we got into a classic early evening bite which we’ve been expecting each day but never getting until now. We picked up a good number of excellent fish mixed in with a few sharks that like to prowl around just after sunset. Stuart Miller came on board with a bad shoulder, which has only been made worse with previous day’s fishing. He was icing it down in the galley all day and told me he was not going to fish today and rest up for tomorrow. Apparently he just couldn’t resist the evening’s activities and went for it. He immediately hooked up with a fish that was seriously thinking of spooling him before something failed and his line popped.

“The next time I saw him (about five minutes later) he was hooked up again, and the tuna was landed later after dinner, weighing in at 213 for the third cow of the day, and yet another personal best as it was his first over 200. Three cows and three personal bests! It was also another great weather day although there is a storm quite a ways south east of us that may or may not be a factor for us eventually. For now we’re not worried about it, getting more bait, and trying it again in the morning.”

On December 14 the boat reported:

“It appeared that we were going to have our slowest day of the trip today when the morning bite failed to materialize and the early afternoon produced mostly small tuna which we released. When we least expected it we started picking up wahoo and surprisingly they kept coming onboard in pretty good numbers and larger sizes than we’ve been seeing thus far. Whether a new batch swam in or the home guard just decided they were hungry is uncertain, but we didn’t question our good luck and after today I think everyone has some wahoo for the trip. The wind was blowing hard all night and again this morning, but by early evening it seemed to back off finally.

“The evening bite was also disappointing producing only two fish with one around 120 off the kite and the other was caught on bait and weighed in at 181. We’ll make kite bait tonight and be at it again long before any of you are awake.”

Easy Passage

“Flat calm the whole way,” wrote Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom December 11, “almost unbelievable considering how much inclement weather there has been already this season. Chalk it up to good luck; an extension of the fortune we received during the majority of our fishing time in the zone. Tomorrow morning will feature a quick pit stop in Cabo San Lucas where just about every angler will jump off to enjoy the southern sights and sounds for a day or more. Captain Paul Caramao will be at the helm for the three-day run north adding to his stripes the same way all of us did back in the day, a rite of passage where genuine weather experience is hard-gained. Paul and the guys are not new to the reality of the prospect. “Go easy and watch the business close” is what we always say; and do, when the going gets rough. Final voyage photo features John Santaella, plenty pleased with this nice skin coming over the rail on our final day.”

Christmas Coming Fast

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